Lukashenko receives report from Belarus President Administration head

Preparations for the forthcoming elections of members of the parliament and municipal councils of deputies as well as personnel matters were key items on the agenda.

“What is the state of affairs in the election process?” the president asked Igor Sergeyenko and wondered whether he has to get involved in the process. “Are there any drawbacks, requests, and so on?”

The head of state also asked questions concerning the personnel situation: “We have several vacancies. I’ve just talked to [newly appointed Healthcare Minister Aleksandr] Khodzhayev. I believe he will be quite a good minister.” Aleksandr Lukashenko said he had signed the relevant decree on appointing the minister and gave instructions to introduce the new minister before the Healthcare Ministry staff on 26 January. “I’d like the prime minister to introduce him and outline the tasks the ministry has to accomplish,” the president explained.

After the meeting Igor Sergeyenko told reporters that, in particular, he had informed the president about the current social and political situation in the country, the main trends of its development, and the work going on within the framework of the election campaign. “So far the formation of voting precincts has been virtually finished. Constituency commissions are now checking all the candidates. The work will be completed on 30 January. It will be followed by election campaigning. Then we will proceed directly to the single voting day, which will take place in the country on 25 February,” he said. The head of the Belarus President Administration stressed that all the work proceeds in normal mode, in compliance with the schedule for preparing and holding the single voting day.

The second set of items on the agenda focused on proposals and approaches to organizing the first session of the Belarusian People’s Congress. In accordance with the law on the Belarusian People’s Congress the session is supposed to be held on 25 April at the latest. “Such an event requires serious preparations, a number of organizational steps starting with the election of delegates, the formation of the agenda, and other ones,” Igor Sergeyenko explained.

In his words, Aleksandr Lukashenko also wondered about the Belarus President Administration’s work to form the head of state’s talent pool, select candidates for civil service in compliance with the personnel policy that was approved by a presidential decree at the beginning of 2024. Igor Sergeyenko stressed that the work proceeds as planned.

Asked whether the country is experiencing a shortage of personnel fit for high-ranking positions, Igor Sergeyenko said: “I wouldn’t say we have a shortage of manpower but there are problems with appointing personnel to certain executive positions.”

“I think that many executives will agree with me if I say that personnel selection is the most complicated kind of work,” he continued. “Every executive, who thinks about the future of his or her enterprise, district, oblast, begins and ends their workdays by thinking about this matter. There are plenty of talented people. You have to find them. There are many ways for choosing a person, who will do the job instead of being a glib talker and a social climber.”